Diabetes mellitus is a disorder in which the pancreas cannot create sufficient insulin, such as in the case of Type I diabetes and/or in which insulin is not effective, such as Type 2 diabetes. In a diabetic state, a victim suffers from high blood sugar, which causes an array of physiological derangements, such as kidney failure, skin ulcers, or bleeding into the vitreous of the eye, associated with the deterioration of small blood vessels. A hypoglycemic reaction, such as low blood sugar, may be induced by an inadvertent overdose of insulin, or after a normal dose of insulin or glucose-lowering agent accompanied by extraordinary exercise or insufficient food intake.
A diabetic person may carry a self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) monitor, which typically requires uncomfortable finger pricking methods. Due to the lack of comfort and convenience, a diabetic typically measures his or her glucose level only two to four times per day. Unfortunately, these time intervals are spread so far apart that the diabetic will likely find out too late, sometimes incurring dangerous side effects, of a hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic condition. In fact, it is not only unlikely that a diabetic will take a timely SMBG value, but additionally the diabetic will not know if his blood glucose value is higher or lower based on conventional methods.
Consequently, a variety of non-invasive, transdermal (e.g., transcutaneous) and/or implantable electrochemical sensors are being developed for continuously detecting and/or quantifying blood glucose values. These devices generally transmit raw or minimally processed data for subsequent analysis at a remote device, which can include a display, to allow presentation of information to a user hosting the sensor.
Using such systems, glucose values can be immediately displayed to the user. Data from such sensors can also be transmitted to a remote location, and compiled into one or more reports. One problem with such reports is that the same typically have a set report format. The various sections and sub-sections of the report remain the same, whether there is sufficient data to make the section relevant to the user or not. For example, there may not be any insulin data available to generate the report, but the report may have sections that deal with insulin data anyway. This can make the report bulkier, and less comprehensible to the user.
In the same way, static reports can result in presenting information in a way in which important information is either not presented to the user and not presented in a user friendly way. As an example, important recognized patterns could be buried in a report because of the set format. Not only could a user expend considerable time and effort in recognizing the information, but a user could miss the important information altogether.
Moreover, prior art data reporting systems are typically set up with a particular user in mind. This can limit the usefulness of the system to the particular type of person for which the system was designed. For example, the system may be set up for a specialized doctor (e.g. endocrinologist), in which case the system may be designed to provide abundance of detail. However, a new patient may not be able to adequately use the system. Conversely, a simple system that could be useful for new patients may not provide the detail desired by the specialized professional.
In addition, prior art reports tend to follow old conventions that are not necessarily intuitive, and may be difficult to manage efficiently during a doctor-patient visit. The doctor may have to flip around the report while discussing the report with the patient, because information is not provided in a convenient way. Finally, the report may contain a lot of details not relevant to the doctor-patient conversation.
This Background is provided to introduce a brief context for the Summary and Detailed Description that follow. This Background is not intended to be an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter nor be viewed as limiting the claimed subject matter to implementations that solve any or all of the disadvantages or problems presented above.